The Analysis of The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles

“What is a Whangdoodle?” You may ask, and that is the exact same question that Lindy, Tom and Ben had when they met Professor Savant-who they met on at a zoo visit and ran into again after a dare on Halloween night. After meeting for the professor for the first time, he tells them about this mythical creature named “the Whangdoodle” and Whangdoodleland, were the creature lives. Professor Savant later tells them that many extraordinary creatures (including the Whangdoodle) used to live with humans, but they later lost their imaginations.

The Whangdoodle eventually created it’s own world, where it didn’t have to worry about any dangers, and where it is the king/queen of the land. The kids wonder how the professor knows about this land, and he tells them that he has visited there before. Naturally the kids want to go there, and he allows them to. Their first visit was wonderful, as they went on a boat ride and used the magical food machine. The problem occurred later that night when they returned home, when the Splintercat came from Whangdoodleland to capture her after their search of the Whangdoodle. Ben, Tom and Professor Savant must do everything in their power to get Lindy back, or else she may be trapped in Whangdoodleland forever.

I enjoyed The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodle a lot more than I thought I would. It wasn’t amazing by any means, as this kind of story has been written and told plenty of times, but it does add a twist that keeps you reading. This book does become predictable at some points though, but that is to be expected, as this book is directed much more toward kids than teens. As for the characters, There are four main characters, of which you can probably guess from the description above this paragraph. There is Lindy, Tom, Ben and Professor Savant. Professor Savant is the main adult figure in this story, but that doesn’t stop him from having just as big of an imagination as the kids.

He is a professor who has earned a Nobel Prize for his work in genetics, and is the main reason why the kids were able to go to Whangdoodleland. He is an older man and one of the last believers of the Whangdoodle (without believers, the Whangdoodle and Whangdoodleland would fade away into obscurity). The oldest of the kids is Ben, who has the smallest imagination out of all the characters, so it was a little more difficult for him to go to Whangdoodleland. He plays the generic “big brother” roll, as he is thirteen and often watches over Tom and Lindy. Speaking of Tom, he is the middle child and is always arguing with Lindy. He seems like a little bad at first, but plays a large roll of why the search for Lindy was possible.

Lindy is the youngest main character, meaning that her imagination is the freshest and the biggest. She is always sweet when she is talking to anyone but Tom, and was a huge reason why the group was able to get to Whangdoodleland, as she was the one who did the Halloween dare. These characters seem quite generic, and that is one of my main complaints about the story, but their characters do get a little more unique as the story goes on. Other than the story being a little generic, I don’t really have any complaints when considering who this book is meant for. Sure, there are some story holes (like why the kids would enter the scary house), but I excuse it because it’s fine for the kid audience that this is meant for. Overall, I would give this book a 7/10. It’s nothing spectacular, but it is fine for what it is.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is between nine to twelve. I know that this book’s age range begins at seven or eight, but there is a lot of words in here that a reader that young just wouldn’t understand. There quite a few words and phrases that I didn’t understand, and I’m nearly twice the age of an eight year old. Despite that, this book is great for anyone nine to twelve because I feel like they would get the most enjoyment out of this book for two reasons. One, they can relate to the characters in this book, whether that being the big brother/sister of two younger siblings, or being one of those siblings that always argue with the other. The second reason is that they would probably enjoy the story more, as it won’t feel too immature to them. 

The author of The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles is Julie Andrews, who is better known as an actor and a singer. This book has 277 pages, and I read all of them. This book doesn’t have a movie, nor is there a plan to make it one. This book is a fantasy fiction.